So maybe you’ve come across this song because I forced you to listen to it, or because I posted the video on your My Space page, or you’re just like DJ Bardot and you know everything about every song recorded between Jan. 1, 1980 and Dec. 31, 1989, or because you are awesome and just know about cool things. Chances are though, that this one is new to you. Now, the band Propaganda didn’t really stand the test of time, at least in this country, but they could still be making hits in Germany for all I know. Their 1985 hit “Duel” lives on, however…
The great thing about this video is that someone got really high and decided that it would be cool to make parts of the video set look like The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali. You probably thought that his most influential outside work were those psychedelic Chupa Chups wrappers, but that was just ignorant.

Trust me, I’ve tried to figure this song out, but I haven’t really been able to. Something about cuts, and people bleeding and her screaming. Maybe you can analyze the lyrics (click here) and enlighten me. I know it has to do with two men “dueling” for the lead singer of this group who may have been alright for a German 80′s chick, but she’s certainly no Nena. Something tells me she still has the same haircut, but in bright red. There’s a Chinese restaurant involved as well to add mystique and allure. There’s always so many fights over German girls in Chinese restaurants, please people, stop the insanity. I think they wrote the song in German and translated it which didn’t exactly carry over so well which is the same problem Eazy-E had. But, whatever, none of that matters because this song is awesome, so add it to your list of tunes you should have.

Because the song starts off with the line “You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar, when I met you”, there is a chance that you instantly become reminiscent about how you and your current love interest met. But then it would have to read “I was 12 Pabst Blue Ribbons deep, and you seemed slutty enough, when I met you”.

I know it was the 80′s, but the fact that Human League singer Phil Oakey appears to be wearing a double sided dangling earring and lipstick in the video makes me think that this song was not necessarily written for his female counterpart. Maybe it’s really about how he first met George Michael.

You’ve all heard this one more times than you can count, and there’s a reason for that, it’s a good song. You know, the thing is that videos good or bad used to be a little mini movie with the song as the soundtrack, and “Don’t you want me” is all about this. It amounts to a movie within a movie within a video, but in a world where Christopher Walken makes films like “Balls of Fury”, I find myself happy to see the song’s lyrics acted out in artsy expression. There’s something about people looking straight into the camera and singing which I really dig, unless it’s Dave Matthews whom I really dig graves for. The dramatic feel combined with the song’s lyrics will affect you, so don’t pretend as though you aren’t compiling a little montage of loves lost in your head as you watch this video too…I know how you are.

I learned something in the course of creating this post, and that something is that there exists a genre of music known as “Sophisti-pop.” Indeed that is how Wikipedia classifies the band Swing Out Sister. I was thinking a Sophisti-pop was an icy treat whose packaging contains the works of Socrates. But anyway, 1986 provides us with another worthy entry in the “Lest we Forget” category with the song “Breakout” by the aforementioned Sophisti-pop pioneers.

Like the song, the video is fun and light-hearted with a lot of the elements you’ve come to recognize from the mid-80′s pop featured here. Lead singer Corrine Drewery is easy on the eyes much like being gay is for Ryan Seacrest, and also of note is the fact that Swing Out Sister has a huge following in Japan much like David Hasselhoff did in Germany. What is it with the Axis powers and their love of obscure musicians? I suppose the Allies should be equally criticized for their acceptance of things like the Dave Matthews Band, and while I understand neither an infatuation with DMB nor “The Hoff”, Swing Out Sister is definitely worth it.

“Open Your Heart” by Madonna. There was a time when she wasn’t deathly skinny and British which are two things which seem to go hand in hand for some reason. No, there was a time, long ago, when you would throw down the “simon says” to sit mesmerized by her videos on MTV. One of which was “Open your heart”. I’m not sure whose idea it was to do a video about a minor in a peepshow (it was probably Madonna’s, actually), but I like it.

You’ve probably got this song on your iPod because like any respectable gen X or Y-er, there are two albums you couldn’t be without. One is Madonna’s Immaculate Collection. The other is the soundtrack to the movie “The Crow”. They are like warm blankets on a cold, cold night. Not only is “Open your heart” a good song (dogma), but the video is just as good, and every red-blooded American boy wanted to be the kid in this video after they saw it. Or, perhaps they wanted to be more like Madonna, but the point remains that this was a defining video, and is worthy of revisiting in an indulgent trip back to when there were videos on MTV, and I carried a lunch pail, not a man bag.

I had to do it. “Mad About You” by Belinda Carlisle is one of the better 80′s pop classics you are probably getting too little of. I love the song and the video even if it doesn’t flow particularly well visually, but it didn’t matter in 1986, and it doesn’t matter now.

There is a vintage glamor feel to this video that I must say I adore. It’s interspersed with film clips of Carlisle in a style that is decidedly Marilyn Monroe-ish. This recalls a forgotten Hollywood chic of times passed throughout the video, most of which involves Carlisle prancing around a sunny LA backdrop.

Cheesy? Yes. Annoying? Perhaps. Brilliantly Nostalgic? Completely. You won’t necessarily want to, you won’t necessarily admit it, but you’ll probably love this video just as much as I do.

Sometimes, we just need somebody to lean on, so David Gorcey and Club Nouveau are there for you. The group covered Bill Withers’ 1976 hit “Lean On Me” back in 1987 and the funky beats are set to a video full of people breaking it down in different ways. Truthfully, the song is better than the video, but it’s upbeat, happy, and you remember rocking out to it on the school bus while you were trying to trade 3rd edition Garbage Pail Kids with the asian kid from up the street. He’s making a lot of money now. I can’t believe it’s been 20 years, and this club isn’t so “nouveau” anymore, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the song and appreciate the beautiful simplicity of its lyrics. Sure, you could listen to Peter Murphy and spend the rest of the day wondering what the hell he’s talking about, but when you finally did, I bet you’d really need somebody to lean on.

I’ve been in the mood to post 80′s videos lately, so sorry if this isn’t your favorite, but you have to admit that you’ve been reminded of a few songs you haven’t thought of in 20 years…

I decided to lead off with 1986′s “Word Up” by Cameo because there is something pretty awesome about the lead singer wearing a red codpiece on the outside of his pants. Unlike other 80′s mistakes , the trend failed to gain popularity which is why I always receive weird looks when I wear my Frankie Goes to Hollywood edition codpiece that says “Frankie Say Relax” on it out to bars. Even so, “Word Up” has been covered by the likes of Korn and Mel B. (who apparently will cover just about anything as evidenced by her child’s paternity) so the song is indeed still enjoyed by many after all these years even if the video makes you throw up in your mouth a little.

(more…)